Many modern devices are based on integrated-circuit technology and other thin-film technologies. Apart from integrated circuits already mentioned, further examples of such devices are micromechanical devices and sensors for biological, chemical or physical effects. Of course, corresponding micromechanical devices or sensors may be combined on a substrate with integrated circuits so as to integrate for example not only the actual sensor, but also the respective evaluating electronics or pre-processing circuits into the substrate. Integrated acceleration sensors or pressure sensors are examples of this.
Such devices and integrated circuits are typically manufactured in complex manufacturing processes using different thin-film technologies. Deposition processes where, among other things, epitaxial, monocrystalline, polycrystalline or amorphous layers are deposited, implantation processes where a semiconductor material is doped or a semiconductor material's doping is altered, annealing processes and activating processes where the substrate, intermediate or product is subjected to a pre-defined atmosphere and/or temperature profile, patterning processes which may include exposing processes and etching processes and in which patterns are defined for potentially following processes are among the different manufacturing processes. Patterning processes may further include applying a resist, exposure to electromagnetic radiation or particles, one or several developing processes and, maybe, one or more thermal treatment processes or other intermediate processes.
Some of these processes used when manufacturing integrated circuits or other devices as mentioned above appear to make aligning the intermediates with regard to further processes, for instance patterning advisable. Additionally, aligning substrates or intermediates may be advisable for the simple reason that the finished devices may be based on special features depending on the crystal orientation of the substrates, so that aligning the substrate to be processed as precisely as possible may be recommendable even for the first process process.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.